Personal Finance

Holiday letting is the subject of some of the most alarming complaints I receive. One person told me how she found herself on vacation staying with a great-grandmother who wouldn’t leave the flat (and 12 cats) while another found that her host treated cleaning more as a vague concept than a necessity.

There is never really a good time to talk about dying and what happens to your money and assets when you’re gone.

If you’ve managed to escape the daily grind and get away, or if you’ve got a holiday booked soon, you’ll know how important it is to have a good travel insurance policy.

One in seven UK homeowners say they will still be paying off their mortgage at the age of 70, according to a survey.

Few industries have grown more in status and stridency than investor protection. The edicts of the regulatory agencies pour forth, along with voluminous “must read” documents to be noted, acted on and kept on file. But despite their aura of authority and infallibility, how reliable are they? Can they be trusted as an informed assessment of risk for private investors, fund managers, analysts and independent financial advisers?

You think you’ve found the perfect outfit, only to find that you can hardly squeeze into the size you picked – or, equally annoyingly, it completely swamps your frame.'

April’s pay packets will be looking a bit lighter for some, as new rules come into force which mean more cash is being funnelled into workplace pensions.

The start of a beautiful relationship can also bring financial perks. Working together, a couple can take steps to grow their finances, perhaps boosting their chances of getting on the housing ladder earlier, and supporting each other at times when money is tight.

Criminals aren’t always thugs with meaty arms and little between the ears. In our ever more interconnected world, these days many thieves wear suits, have charm, act in a sophisticated manner and make out they are on our side.

The impact of auto-enrolment on pensions has been huge, with workplace pension coverage rising from 46.5 per cent in 2012 to 72.9 per cent in 2017.

Only a quarter of over people over the age of 50 say they have achieved all they wanted to in life, while five out of six say they still have things to tick off their “bucket list”.

This is a clarion call to everyone who’s been to university in the last 20 years or so. Hundreds of thousands of you have overpaid your student loans and with one quick phone call could be entitled to hundreds or thousands of pounds back.

Congratulations and commiserations. If you’re an employee aged 22 or more, earning over £10,000 a year, you’ve likely just had a hidden pay rise and a hidden pay cut at the same time.

It was only a few weeks ago that I wrote about the closure of bank branches, and my first-hand experience of seeing the impact of closures in rural areas.

Archangels, the Edinburgh-based business angel ­syndicate, has received a top accolade following a record year of investment.

Borrowers may be paying more than they budgeted for when going for the best personal loan deals thanks to the growing gap between advertised “teaser” rates and the actual rate offered when they apply, new research shows.

As many of us ponder ­retirement and a slowdown from the busy work environment, what do we expect will happen?

It always seems to happen. My day starts off quite serenely and then before I know it, a huge story breaks and my best-laid plans go out the window as I go on TV and radio to bring Which?’s fight for consumers out to the wider world.